In Preludes and Red Wine
by Toadflame
Summary: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." –Unknown. Small shorts from all walks of life within the world of Young Justice.
1. Tim Meets the Team (Sort of)

In Preludes and Red Wine

_Summary: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." –Unknown. Sometimes, the shortest parts of life are the memories we share with everyone._

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**Note – Title is kind of based on a lyric from the David Bowie song ****Time****. I always thought it said "Time, in preludes and red wine" but it's really "Time, in Quaaludes and red wine". Quaaludes are sedative/hypnotic drugs used in the '60s, but are now discontinued due to recreational abuse of the drug. (Let's see…marketed during the '60s and '70s and abused? Nope, no correlation there…*sarcasm*) You may know Quaaludes better as Methaqualone, the real name of the drug.**

**And the reason that I thought it was "preludes" and not "Quaaludes" is because they are pronounced remarkably similar. Seriously, go listen to the song and tell me they don't sound the same.**

**More notes at the bottom.**

**Enjoy. Has nothing to do with Quaaludes or Methaqualone, though. Yet.**

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_In which Dick decides that Tim meeting the Team is the best thing since sliced bread, and Tim meets Kon, who is the best thing since the best thing before the best thing before sliced bread._

When Batman finally relented and let his protégé meet the Team, Dick was ecstatic.

He bounced from room to room, looking at everything to see as if he hadn't already seen it before.

Tim was distinctly Unimpressed and very Displeased. Capital letters and all. Dick called it the "grand tour". Tim called it the "too much time with my brother/team leader".

Unimpressed. Displeased. Words that Dick, in his younger, English-mangling days (Tim remembered hearing Dick once call it "inventing the American language", to which three-year-old Damian prolifically claimed that America had mangled it enough and it was still English no matter what. Tim had never liked the kid more than that moment) would have a field day with.

He wasn't going to let it get that far. It was his day.

So, when Dick was waxing poetic about the gym (seriously, did his big brother ever shut up?), Tim kinda-sorta slipped away.

He retraced his steps through the Mountain, ending up near the zeta tube in the living room. There hadn't been anyone there when they first came through, but now Tim could see a dark head and shoulders covered in black cloth. The figure was sitting on the couch, staring at television snow.

"Uh…" he said, eloquently. He could've smacked himself; first day, and probably already insulting veteran Team members. He really, _really_ should've tried talking Bruce out of this…

"Who's there?" Oh, God, it was Superboy. Tim would recognize that voice anywhere. He'd seen the hero once, when Dick brought him to the Manor to spend the night (back when no one knew what to do with him and the Mountain's quarters hadn't been cleaned out yet). Tim had taken one look into the kitchen, squeaked, and ran back up the stairs, into Jason's room, and hidden under his brother's bed. Because despite growing up in the Batcave and with Batman coming in and out of his home, Superboy was the greatest hero in the world, even better than Superman himself.

Superboy began to turn in his direction. It seemed like forever between the words and the face, but Tim knew that it was lightning-quick. He considered ducking and running away, but Dick was just fine in front of his Team in civvies and…

Tim's fingers flew to his face. Batman had warned him about not showing his identity to anyone on the Team, even though Wally already knew both his and Dick's (somehow, that was a perk of being a nosy Flash. Tim still couldn't figure out those logistics) and Artemis suspected (knew) Dick's identity.

Tim did the only thing a boy in his situation could do.

He squeaked and ran away.

He knew, just _knew_, Dick knew exactly what was happening and was laughing at him at this very moment. Because that was just how Dick was.

Tim wouldn't be able to show his face to anyone, let alone Superboy, for at least a month. The only way it would be worse was if his voice started to crack right when he was introduced to the Team.

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**There IS a bit of symbolism in the title, which is interesting.**

**Preludes are short musical compositions that appear in front of longer works.**

**Red wine can symbolize life, especially in dreams.**

**Which, put together, should symbolize short works prior to long works about life. Well, we're skipping the long works, and this will be a mini-series of short shots of life. Crossovers and various characters and situations will be abound. It may also be an extra-ideas file. AUs, etc. My private headcanon (which includes Rose as Deathstroke, but will be gotten to later).**

**Please note, this is SEPARATE from **_**The Intrepid Trio**_**. That one is specifically Roy, Wally, and Dick. This is anyone within the YJ fandom. Updates are irregular.**


	2. Cupcakes & Other Really Unrelated Shorts

**Oh goodness, a crack!fic! Whoda thunk it? Me, write a crack fic? I crack myself up. And while I'm at it, I think I want crackers. Oh, never mind, I AM crackers!**

**Alright, enough cracking jokes. On with the crack!fic.**

**Warning: probable innuendo. Takes place early in the five-year gap. Enjoy!**

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_In which the little cupcake could, and the most unsurprising pairing came into being._

He sat there, innocent, before he was lifted from his quiet resting place. He hovered for a moment before the blade came down, spreading chocolate across his face.

It felt glorious. Until he felt something begin to rip.

M'gann stared mournfully at the partially broken cupcake. She had almost been finished with it, too! Quickly, she glanced ahead of her on the table, where another liner that once held a cupcake lay. That one had ripped so badly it had left a little bit on the frosting blade.

"Oh, no," she moaned. "Now what?" She sat there, indecisive for a moment, listening to some voices come closer to her location in the kitchen.

"It's…not really so bad," she said, examining it. "It doesn't even show."

Quickly, she set it down on the tray. "It's okay, little cupcake, you can pretend that you're normal, just like all the other cupcakes," she said to it even as she reached out for another. "Just pretend, okay? No one will ever know the difference. You can pretend, right?"

"Uh…" she heard from behind her. M'gann whirled around in her seat to see Artemis standing behind her. "I was going to come see if I could help, but, uh…" Artemis' eyes cast around the kitchen, from the frosting blade in M'gann's hand (she found that if she did more with her hands, the less accidents happened when her attention was diverted) to the tray of mostly-completed chocolate cupcakes.

"I think I'm going to go find Wally," she said loudly. "Yeah. Maybe Wally needs help." Artemis all but ran from the kitchen, leaving M'gann sitting there with an unfrosted cupcake. Moments later, M'gann could hear Wally start to say something before he was cut off.

She set the cupcake back down and flew to the door. She peeked around the corner to see Artemis kissing Wally for all he was worth.

"Did it work?" she heard Robin ask from behind her. She looked at the fourteen-year-old and smiled.

"Yep," she said, going back to her cupcakes.

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**Haha, that was just a little shorty, so you guys get bonus shorts for me to make this worthwhile to post.**

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Bonus #1: How Jason REALLY came back from the dead

_Originally written for Dex at the YJCF. Just copied and pasted from here; it's post 7,739 if you really want to check that it's mine._

Jason eyed the being across the table from him. "Final round. All in. And if I win, I go back to Earth."

Necron eyed him back. "Check, all in. If I win, your soul is already here. Instead, you will become my disciple upon Earth to wreak havoc on the masses. You will be at my beck and call as I see fit. And I will keep you very busy, so busy you would wish for the tortures of my domain."

Jason smirked. "Deal." He laid his hand on the table. He had a ten and Jack of diamonds.

Necron slammed his hand on the table. He had the Jacks of spades and hearts in his hand.

In the middle of the table between them was the seven of diamonds, the Jack of clubs, the eight of diamonds, the nine of diamonds, and the nine of hearts.

"Straight flush beats full house," Jason said. "Now, about my soul returning to Earth..."

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Bonus #2: Indiana Jones and his Merry Men

_Prompt on a 100-word writing challenge was _temples_. Here's the result. And it's really 100 words! You can count 'em too._

Tim stared at the little figurine on the pressure plate. He didn't want to know what would happen if he just tried to take it.

"Just grab it! The others can handle themselves, and I'll carry you. Why do we need this, anyway?" Impulse was impatient, which was common for the teen from the future.

"It's for the mission, remember?"

He cast his mind around for a solution, any solution. Finally, he simply took a bag from his belt and tried the Indiana Jones movie trick.

"What did I tell you?" Impulse yelled as they ran from the sprung trap.

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Bonus #3: It Only Hurts A Little

_Last one for now…and Kon has a bit of an eclectic taste in music, but unfortunately, can't sing._

"And everybody's getting numb…and everybody's on the run…" The singing nearly broke the glass sitting next to Dick as he and Wally pressed the buttons frantically.

"Dude, you're so not going to win!" Wally yelled. Yelling was necessary when your target was sitting right next to you, of course."

"But you forget!" Dick pressed buttons like there was no tomorrow, and Wally squawked in anger. "I have cheat codes!"

"Got a bullet in the chamber and this is gonna hurt…" The off-key wailing walked past, finally breaking the glass. Dick jumped, more from shock as none of the glass had injured him, and Wally raced off to get a broom.

"Dude, what are you doing?!" he asked. Wally handed him the needed items, and Dick quickly swept up the floor before anyone could step in the glass.

"Singing," Kon said, breaking off mid-lyric. "It's Sixx A.M. I like the song. Everybody else sings when they have a song they like."

"Yes, well, not everybody else breaks quarter-inch-thick glass when they sing," Wally said. "Seriously."

"Sorry." Kon looked confused. "What do you mean, I broke glass?"

"As in, your singing is so bad, it broke my empty glass," Dick said, holding up the remnants as he walked to the trash. "So, it's probably safer if you don't sing. At all. Ever."

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**This whole thing's just crack. Don't mind me. *walks away while whistling***


End file.
